just a little of what goes into SDP images ~ {Ontario pet photographer}

often on the scruffy dog facebook page i post before-and-after screen-captures of the editing of choice images. some examples demonstrate straightforward editing — adjustments in exposure, white balance, tone, curve, and any other required adjustments — while others show more significant changes from highlight- and shadow-recovery to boosting certain light sources that have been captured in-camera.

i’ve shared these before-and-afters for years so that clients can see what goes into their images, so they see the care and attention to detail that i bring to every scruffy dog image even before they end up in the proofing gallery. in most cases leashes and lines, eye goobers, tear-staining and any other distractions are removed only on images ordered for prints, album, and wall pieces, but i always show at least a few with these additional edits done to help clients envision what can be done.

for those scruffy dog followers who are adverse to facebook — yeah, you know who you are! — i thought it might be nice to share a sampling of just a few of the before-and-afters that have been posted on the SDP facebook page.

in most of these cases, all of the editing has been done in Adobe Lightroom.

here’s Mika … showing off his combover …

and his brother Bobby in one of my most memorable sessions on a very rainy afternoon.

and here’s Sophie, working that backlighting.

of course, whenever i post these before-and-afters i always receive a handful of emails from photographers asking whether i offer online editing courses. again and again, the answer is “no”. the reason i don’t offer on-line courses or videos is because editing — understandably — is an important component of the One-on-One mentoring that i offer to other pet photographers globally. with this being a significant portion of their experience, it would not be at all fair of me to offer it elsewhere.

i have taught for years … in the past, writing, and today, all aspects of the business of pet photography. i connect with my mentees; i want to affect their outlook with respect to photography, motivate them, offer a new approach and a new way of thinking … and to do this, i teach in a very hands-on approach. so, sorry, no videos … for now.

i do recommend, however, exploring all aspects of Lightroom or whatever editing program you are using. and i always recommend shooting RAW. if you’re looking for some good solid guidance on your journey through Lightroom — as this is a program that is as much about workflow as it is a powerful editing tool — consider purchasing one of Scott Kelby’s books on Lightroom.

here are Beans and Stewie. the line would be removed later in Photoshop.

and how about the handsome Gully?

here are Joey, Bruiser and Pebbles … these three came all the way from Kansas for their session. one might suggest that the image is initially underexposed, but in the case of two white dogs and a darker dog, i’m careful to expose according to all three dogs. i would rather underexpose just a little so as not to lose too many highlights, knowing that my Nikons (the D3S and D4) have incredible dynamic range. unless the shadows are really underexposed, i know i won’t be compromising any quality by bringing up those shadows.

ah sweet, Juniper …

and here’s big Kingston. here again is an example deliberately underexposing … in this case, underexposing so that i don’t lose everything in the sky.

and here is little Lucy, showing exactly how much can be regained when you do shoot RAW. this is not some pasted in sky … sorry, i’ve got no time for that! this sky is original to the scene, and was easily brought back.

here are Rogue and Mobi … in this case, the image was edited in LR, then exported out as a tif to CS5 where not only was the line removed but also some of that ugly black steel railing, and then brought back into LR.

with Tiger’s image, i was able to use LR to bring out the glow already captured in-camera.

and other times, images need just typical but still significant adjustments.

Donald Townsend -Thanks for sharing these before and after images. I’ve always learned a lot from these. Keep up the good work and keep on sharing.

Norma Rowley -Just seeing these before and after photos is an education in itself ! I am so inspired by your work – thank you so much for sharing….

Michelle Bradshaw -wow….I’m certainly not a photographer (heck I can’t usually even fnd the camera on my crackberry) but I LOVE seeing these before and afters shots. It really gives you an appreciation for the amount of work you put into your beautiful images. Thank you for sharing illona.